“Anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name.”
And what do we ask for? Do we ask to glorify His name by our lives? Do we ask for wisdom to know His Will? Do we ask for the courage, fortitude and strength to build His Kingdom? Do we ask for a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the conversion of sinners and the saving of souls? Do we ask for His guidance on how we can better love our brethren as we ought to? Are we then living our lives worthy of God our Father’s love who loves us for loving and believing in His Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Where is our discipleship?
The world has gone back to becoming both paganistic as well as hedonistic. How else do you account for the promotion of same sex ‘marriages’? And all the different sexual deviations that have risen to destroy family as well as social values. What about the resurfacing of ancient child sacrifices? No? What is abortion then if not the sacrificing of a child’s life for whatever personal reasons? What about the growing atrocities that goes on in the world devaluing human life and dignity?
How could we have allowed this to happen? Yes we allowed it to happen when we chose to be silent! When we keep thinking it is someone’s else’s responsibility so share the truths of the Gospel! When we think doing good deeds alone is enough to bring others into the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord and perhaps conversion. When we do not preach and teach the Kerygma. When we do not talk about repentance and the turning back of hearts to God our Heavenly Father. When we do not step up to serve Him and our brethren as we are called to do. When we refuse to renounce ourselves take up our cross to follow Jesus!
Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to renew and set our hearts ablaze, to empower us as we go forth to renew the whole world by His love! Amen Alleluia!
Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. Amen
First reading
Acts 18:23-28 ·
Apollos demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ
Paul came down to Antioch, where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers.
An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual earnestness and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had only experienced the baptism of John. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, they took an interest in him and gave him further instruction about the Way.
When Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived there he was able by God’s grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public and demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Gospel
John 16:23-28
The Father loves you for loving me and believing that I came from God
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name.
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.
Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete.
I have been telling you all this in metaphors,
the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in metaphors;
but tell you about the Father in plain words.
When that day comes you will ask in my name;
and I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you,
because the Father himself loves you for loving me
and believing that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world
and now I leave the world to go to the Father.’
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